Linked Love
by SkyguysSnips9596
Summary: Collab story by Happie692B and Anisoka28. Hope you enjoy reading!
1. Prologue

**Ahsoka's POV**

I continued to toss and turn in bed, feeling remorseful as my mind raced. "Why wasn't it me? I should've been the one sent away instead of Anakin."

I tossed and turned as the memory of that day flooded my subconscious. " I made the mistake in doubting my Master's orders."

The day was so familiar, being surrounded by droids and Anakin having to save me, and then blaming himself for the whole ordeal. "Why did he take responsibility for my actions?"

Upon returning, Master Yoda had informed us of the recent uprising in the war. Jedi Knights were being sent away to battle for universal conquest against the Separatists. I didn't want Anakin to go, so I volunteered myself for going along with him, but Anakin decided to leave me behind to keep me safe. So, with a heavy heart, I said good-bye to Anakin. He smirked at me, turning around to wink before entering the cruiser with the other Jedi Knights.

After the cruiser left the temple, I went off on my own. "Saying good-bye to Ani was the hardest thing I've done..."

I awoke from my thought, suddenly sitting up and looking around my dormitory. It was still the same as I had left it. I sighed, looking out the window, closing my eyes "Be safe, Ani, I love you."


	2. Chapter 1

**POV: Anakin Skywalker**

"Ready, Snips?" I asked, smiling at her in her blood red starfighter. She was going to lead an airstrike on the planet below, hopefully taking out sentry towers and aerial fighters. The base itself was relatively small; therefore we only brought a limited amount of fighters.

She's been my Padawan for two years. She looked up from tinkering with the control panel to smile widely. "Of course I am."

I crossed my arms over the side of her fighter, allowing my hands to hang close to hers. She intertwined our fingers as she continued to set the controls with her free hand.

"Be careful out there, all right?"

"I take after you."

"That's _not _what I wanted to hear," I muttered. "Don't do something reckless, okay? The last time you did something so –"

"I know. You always remind me of how worried you are," she responded, her eyes not leaving the control panel. "I'll be careful. Stop worrying so much."

"Ahsoka…" I sighed, lowering my head. "You _still _don't understand my feelings for you. Every time you leave me behind in this hangar, you take a piece of me with you."

She looked up at me. "I know, Anakin. That's why I'm going to be on my guard. Anakin, I know how you feel about me and you know how I feel about you. I don't want to hurt you."

She gripped my hand tighter. I glanced around the hangar, watching several clones hustling busily around. They were making last minute repairs and such to the fighters.

I leaned forward, kissing her right montral. "Be safe. I'm going to miss you while you're out there."

She smiled, her azure eyes lighting up. "I love you… _Master._"

She giggled at the grimace on my face. "Don't call me Master. You know how much I hate it."

"But you forced me to call you Master when I met you, _Skyguy._"

I rolled my eyes, releasing her hand. "Again, _be safe._"

She reached up, grabbing my vest. She pulled me down towards her, kissing me quickly. "I love you," she whispered.

We both cautiously glanced around the hangar. No feelings seemed to draw conclusions or suspicions towards us. In essence, no one had witnessed our kiss. "I love you, Ahsoka."

"General," a clone called out to me. "We're ready for our assault. Commander willing."

"Commander, are you ready?" I asked, giving her a teasing smile.

"Yes, General. All right, Skip, let's get flying."

Skip saluted, running towards his fighter. "I'll be safe," she laughed.

"Have fun, but not _too _much. Just keep the objective at the head of your thoughts. You've got a job to do."

"Geez, I love you, too."

"Love you, Snips." I made a kissing sound with my lips, resulting in a laugh from her, along with the rolling of her beautiful eyes that captivated me.

"Get to the bridge. Go clear us for flight."

I spun around, glancing back at her for a moment before leaving the hangar. I ran to the bridge, slowing to a walk when Admiral Yularen turned around. "Fighters are ready for takeoff, Admiral."

"Commander," he said into the intercom. "You are now cleared for your assault."

"_Thank you, Admiral._"

He turned around. "Open the hangar doors."

A clone opened the hangar and shortly afterward, Ahsoka and her squad appeared, getting into their proper formation that I'd assigned to them. "_Blue Two calling in_," Ahsoka said over the com.

"_Blue Three all set._"

"_Blue Four ready when you are._"

After a minute, all fighters checked in. "_All right, boys, let's light up some clankers!_"

I shook my head at her amount of enthusiasm. I stood beside the Admiral, staring out of the viewscreen. I couldn't help the worry building up, nor could I ignore my anxiety. Ahsoka told a few men to steady their pace as they entered the planet's atmosphere.

"_All right, men, fire ahead on my mark._" There was a pause. "_Mark!_"

I could hear blasts and the exhilarated cries of the men as they destroyed their targets. "_Men, stay the course. Ruts, you're shifting out of – Ruts!_"

There was an explosion. "Ahsoka, what's going on?"

"_Nothing, Master._" I cringed slightly at the title, but realized that it was necessary for the moment. "_Men, full ahead._"

"_It's a trap!_" one of the men cried before his ship exploded as well, taking his screams along with him.

"Ahsoka, report!" I ordered, growing increasingly concerned.

"_We've got it –_" Another explosion.

"Ahsoka! Get back up here," I pleaded.

"_It's fine, Master! We almost have this!_"

"How many men do you have left with you?"

"_It's me and Skip._"

"Ahsoka, you've lost too many fighters. You and Skip can't finish this alone."

"_I know we can!_"

I clenched my fingers tightly, balling them into a fist. "I am _commanding _you to return _immediately! _Ahsoka, that means _abort the mission!_"

Skip's cries were faint as he disintegrated. That left Ahsoka down there _alone._ "Ahsoka!"

She wasn't listening to me. A Separatist cruiser jumped directly in front of us, stopping to begin firing. I groaned in frustration. "Admiral, defend the _Resolute_. I have to go get my _Padawan,_" I yelled as I ran past him.

I went down to the hangar, hopping into my fighter with Artoo. The hangar door was already open – thankfully, I had given the Admiral a warning ahead of time to begin opening the door.

I set the controls with no problem since I'd done this so many times with a limited amount of time. I closed the canopy and manually flew out of the _Resolute_. "Blue Two, this is _Blue One._"

"_Master, what –_"

She grunted as blasts hit her ship. I increased my speed by pushing the thrusters beyond their limit.

I found Ahsoka's fighter in the middle of four Seppies. "_Master, get out of here!_"

I grabbed my control stick, pressing the button to fire on the enemy fighters. Ahsoka's was heavily damaged, burning in some parts. "Ahsoka, I'm going to put my wing under yours. Fly with me as best as you can."

"_Master…_"

"I didn't want to repeat _Ryloth_," I said coldly, quickly maneuvering my fighter to compensate for her failing one. She was silent as we flew back onto the _Resolute._ Her fighter jostled off of my wing, briefly crashing onto the hangar floor. I glanced up to see the hangar door closing.

I pushed the canopy up, flying out of the seat. I ran to her as her canopy lifted. Several clones already began to take care of the flames on her fighter. "Are you hurt?"

"Only a little…"

I jumped onto her damaged wing, leaning down towards her. "Come here," I whispered, outstretching my arms. She leaned forward and I pulled her up. Her legs wobbled a bit, so I carried her off of the fighter. Her legs hung over my arm as I carried her to the medbay.

Once we entered, I set her down on the bed. "I failed you again."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "Don't say that. You know –"

"You _do _have expectations of me! I failed and you felt the need to come rescue me. Just tell me that I failed you, Anakin!"

"You have not failed me, Ahsoka. You're incapable of failing me." She lowered her head. "Hey, look at me."

I could feel her fury and sadness. This was so similar to the battle over Ryloth… I sighed, pulling her close to me for a moment. "I love you, Snips. I always will. Do _not _forget that, okay?"

She stared up at me sadly, nodding slowly. "Anakin…"

"Don't talk anymore, okay? I hate to see you upset over something like this. You forget that I lose my men all the time. I know how hard it is, but we need to move on. There's a bigger picture that we need to focus on, Snips."

"Anakin, what if you hadn't rescued me?"

I bit my lip, not wanting to discuss the possible outcome that might have come about had I not acted on my protective instincts. I loved her too much to allow her to face that on her own. I just wish that this hadn't been a trap. She'd been so down about Ryloth for weeks that it took an extreme amount of effort to make her happy again.

"I don't want to think about that."

I pushed her lightly back onto the bed, covering her up. I smiled at her warmly. "No matter what happens, I'm always going to be here to protect you."

She stared into my eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do." I placed my hand over her, beside her leg.

The door opened and Admiral Yularen entered. We both glanced up at him. "General, Commander. I have bad news for you both."

I glanced at Ahsoka nervously before pushing myself off of the bed to walk up to the Admiral. "Can we talk about this in private? I don't want to hurt her feelings…" I whispered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I think it's important for you both to hear this, General."

Again, I shot another glance in Ahsoka's direction. "I can take it," she smiled weakly. "What happened, Admiral?"

"We've lost all fighters and our ship is heavily damaged. We were lucky to jump into hyperspace, but we can't anymore. The reactor was damaged and I'm afraid our repairmen were part of Commander Tano's squad."

I glanced at Ahsoka to see her cringe, closing her eyes.

"That'll be all for now, Admiral. I'll get down there as soon as I can to help with repairs."

"Yes, sir," he muttered, turning away from me.

I watched him walk out before turning towards Ahsoka. "Anakin…"

I moved towards her, sitting beside her, taking her hand to hold it. "I'm such a failure. I killed all of those men because I couldn't listen to you! You were right. You always are! I repeated Ryloth and disappointing you!"

"Stop it right now."

"I can't help the guilt. I killed them. I stole their lives. Why aren't you upset with me for it? Like you said before, you take losing your men very hard. Shouldn't you hate me for what I did?"

"Ahsoka, I'm not just your Master. I love you with all of my heart and I can't hate you. I'm your _boyfriend, _too."

She stared at me sadly before turning away from me. "Snips, I'm always going to love you. Nothing you do will ever change that. There's nothing more important than the way I feel about you."

I sighed at the look on her face. "I love you, Snips. I'm going to see what I can do to fix the ship. I'll be back soon. The medical droid will take care of you until then."

I rubbed her leg before standing. She glanced up at me as I stood. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I whispered, smiling. "You're adorable regardless of how you feel."

The stripes on her lekku darkened as she blushed. I chuckled, moving to kiss her forehead. "I love you, too."

"Get some rest. You've had a long day already."

She nodded, watching me straighten up and begin to walk away. I flipped the medical droid on, telling it to check her injuries. I knew that the physical injuries would heal, but the emotional ones would take some time.

I walked towards the door, turning around to look at her once last time. "I'm never going to accept the fact that you think you failed me," I whispered, my hand clutching the doorframe as I looked at her sad expression.

Her eyes were now closed as the droid worked on her. She didn't seem to have any fatal injuries, but I'm sure she was hurting. There were a few scrapes on her from the collision with my fighter and I instantly blamed myself.

I sighed, looking away to finally leave. In reality, _I _had failed _her._ I let her down by not encouraging her the right way.


	3. Chapter 2

**POV: Ahsoka Tano**

After two evenings of being overlooked by a droid, we had finally returned to Coruscant. The fact that I was finally able to be released from the medbay excited me as well. I left with a bit of gauze around my right wrist and with a bit on my left montral.

I turned in the doorway to thank the droid before speed walking down the corridor to find Anakin. I soon found him in the hangar underneath my fighter making repairs to it as I walked up to him. "Master, I wanted to apologize..."

He slid from under the fighter to look up at me, pushing himself up to his feet.

Once he saw the bandages on me, he frowned. "Are you feeling any better?"

I nodded placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just fine."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Ahsoka, I already said this to you, but I'll say it again. You didn't fail me and I'm not upset with you. You followed your instincts, but they led you down the wrong path."

I frowned, looking away from him. "Master, I can't take the lives I lost lightly. It's my fault that they're gone and I can't take any of it back."

He pulled me into a tight but loving embrace. I rested my head against his chest to listen to his heartbeat.

Once we separated, I looked up at him "So you're working on my fighter?"

He then knelt down, sliding underneath it again. "I have part of the repairs done."

He then rolled out from under it, pushing himself into a standing position once again. "I should have it up and running soon."

He wrapped an arm around me. I smirked, kissing his cheek. I intertwined my fingers with his, looking around to see no one paying attention to us. I smirked at him, winking as we both began to sneak out of the hangar. We released each other's hands as we began walking past Master Plo.

He nodded at me as I smiled at him. We then walked past a group of clones. My heart hurt just by looking at them. We continued turning corridors until we arrived in his dormitory. Once inside, he closed the door behind him, locking it to be sure no one would intrude. I kissed his mouth intently, wrapping my arms around his neck as he pushed me back onto his bed. I looked at him, staring into his blue eyes, smiling.

As we returned to our kiss, his comlink began to beep. He groaned in frustration, climbing off of me, pushing himself into a sitting position on the bed. He tapped the button on the comlink, saying, "Skywalker here."

As he waited for the response, he gripped my left hand.

"_Wish to speak with you, I do, young Skywalker. Important information for you, I have._"

Anakin got up off of the bed, jumping onto his feet. "Yes, Master Yoda. Skywalker out."

He then walked towards the door, still holding my left hand. "Come on, Snips."

He dragged me out of the room and down the corridor, letting go of my hand as we both snuck out of his dorm and began heading towards the Council chambers.

Upon arriving, we stood before Master Windu, Master Yoda, and Master Plo. I looked up at Anakin nervously as he bowed respectfully.

"You needed to see me, Master Yoda?"

He closed his eyes. "Wish to speak with you _and_ your Padawan, we do."

Master Plo looked at me curiously. "Would you mind telling me how you sustained your injuries, Little Soka?"

I swallowed feeling like my throat was closing. I bowed my head in the same respectful manner as Anakin. "I was leading a clone battalion, but we were ambushed. None of the men survived. I forget about listening to my Master because I thought I could continue the mission on my own. In the end, I myself was ambushed."

Anakin cut me off. "What my Padawan did was reckless, but it's from me forgetting how young she is. I should've gone with her for this mission."

Master Yoda gripped his wooden cane tighter. "Unfortunate lives to lose, they were."

He then looked at Anakin. "However found a battle plan, we have." He smirked "Sent away to fight around the galaxy to defeat the Separatists for a closer end to this war, Jedi Knights of the Republic will. Young Skywalker, go to join the others to fight, you must."

Anakin nodded, bowing again. "As you wish, Masters," he said solemnly.

He turned walking out of the room slowly and silently. I stood there shocked by what I had just heard.


	4. Chapter 3

POV: Anakin Skywalker

I decided that finishing Ahsoka's fighter was a priority. I had to finish it before I made any final arrangements for leaving. I continued finalizing any faults and fractures as I looked around the bottom of the fighter. I happened to glance to the side to see Ahsoka's boots before me. I sighed heavily before rolling out from underneath her fighter and stumbling to get to my feet.

I saw her frown slightly and I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Ahsoka. I'll be back before you know it. It's not like we haven't been separated before."

"I'm going to miss you so much, Anakin…"

I wrapped my arms around her quickly. "I'll miss you, too, Snips," I whispered against her montrals. "I love you."

She clutched my vest tightly, her fingers curling around the fabric. "Would you like to help me finish fixing this thing up?"

"Oh, so it's a _thing _now?" she smirked, leaning her head against my chest. I was surprised that no one had caught us yet.

I chuckled. "Well?"

"Of course, I'd love to help you."

I smiled. We both bent down and slid underneath the fighter. "Hand me the –"

"I got it," she smiled, turning over to grab the tool I needed. She handed it to me and I placed it on my other side. I grabbed her hand, tugging her closer to me.

The only reason I wanted her under here with me was so that we could have a little more time together before my inevitable departure. She scooted closer to me and I pulled her on top of me.

She quickly flipped me over, putting me on top. "I see how you like it," I chuckled, leaning down to kiss her slowly.

"I like it when you're on top. I'm so confused most of the time. You always seem to know what's perfect, so I let you lead."

I smirked, rolling my eyes. "I don't _always _know what's perfect. I'm usually just really observant when it comes to you. Every move I make, I watch your reaction. I want you to be happy with me."

"Why wouldn't I be happy with you? You're the most amazing man there is, Anakin."

I stroked her cheek lightly. "And you're –"

"Do both of you need to be under there?"

I hit my head on the star fighter's underside as I quickly rolled off of her. Luckily, we had pulled our legs in so no one could really see us. "She's helping me with the tools, Master."

I heard Obi-Wan sigh and I could just see his eyes rolling. He bent down to look underneath the fighter. I was fixing up the part of the ship that required the tool Ahsoka had grabbed for me. "Want to come under here, too, Master?" I laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"No, thanks. I'll always believe flying and repairing are for droids."

"It's just faster when I do it."

"And you feel the need to repair her fighter when she's staying in the temple because…?"

I smirked. "You never know when my Padawan will want to run away and pick up some droids pieces in a junk yard."

He laughed. "I'll never forget the times you came back. I had to cover for you because I truly had no idea where you were at times."

I smiled as I continued to repair the fighter. "All right, Anakin. We're leaving in twenty minutes. Is that enough time for you to finish up?"

I shrugged. "It'll be enough time to get close to finishing it. I'll tell Ahsoka what to do to finish if need be."

"Sounds fine. We'll be loading onto our transport in the landing zone outside. You had better be there on time or Master Windu will be very –"

"I'll be there, Obi-Wan."

He stood back up and began to leave. I put the tool down and put my arm around Ahsoka who was hovering above me slightly. I grabbed her chin, pulling her face closer to me. I kissed her jaw line and she giggled.

"I thought you wanted to fix this _thing _up."

"Oh, so you don't like –"

She kissed me. Once she pulled back, she smiled, whispering, "I love it when you kiss me. I just don't want to fix this _thing _up all by myself when you're gone."

"You could just leave it until I get back and we could work on it together."

"Either way," she shrugged.

She laid down on my chest listening to my quick heartbeat. It was always pretty fast around her because she was just so… _powerful._ She had so many effects on me.

Before I knew it, fifteen minutes had passed. I only got half the repairs finished, so that left half for her or me when I got back.

"Ugh," I groaned, closing my eyes. She ran her fingers along my jaw line, up the side of my face, and through my hair. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know, Ani."

She put her full body weight on top of me. I opened my eyes to see her smiling. "I can't believe how much I'm missing you already," I whispered.

"It won't be for long…"

She leaned down on me, kissing my lips. I closed my eyes again, gripping her shoulders lightly. She moaned into my mouth and I smiled against hers. Her lips were so beautiful and I loved kissing them every time the opportunity or moment arrived.

Kissing her was something I'd never pass on. I loved feeling her lips against mine because it felt so perfect and so right. There was just something about our kisses that gave me a magical feeling.

She giggled, pulling back for a moment. "What are you laughing at?" I asked, chuckling.

She smiled, looking up at me. "Even though I know this mission is important for the war's outcome, I'm just going to miss you once you're gone…" Her voice broke as if she were going to cry. "Just promise me something."

I rubbed her left lekku with my gloved hand. "Anything," I whispered.

She looked away from me. Sighing, I placed my hand against her right cheek. "Snips?"

She looked back at me before wrapping her arms around me tightly. "Promise me you'll come back alive!"

I could hear her soft sobs. I lifted her chin up carefully, not wanting to hurt her since we were still beneath the fighter. Her eyes, brimmed with tears, hurt me. I hated to see her cry. I stroked the side of her face with my other hand, shushing her. "I promise I'll come back to you, Ahsoka. I always do."

"You'd better or I'll be very upset with you, Anakin," she laughed.

I wiped away her tears with my thumb, smiling weakly. "I'd never intentionally upset you, love. I'll come back to you. I will not break that promise. You mean everything to me and you know I'd never leave you willingly. I'm so fed up with the Council wanting to separate us. Even though you'll be safer here, I'd love to have you by my side."

She smiled, tickling my sides. I laughed, slamming my knees against the underside of the fighter. "Ouch," I said through my laughs.

She giggled, lying down on my chest. "I'm going to miss this."

"Me, too," I whispered sadly, rubbing her back slowly. Her skin was so soft, even through my gloves.

I sighed. "We should probably head to the landing platform. Obi-Wan will kill me if I'm late. Actually, I'm late already."

"I'm sorry, Anakin!"

"Don't be. I'd rather be here than there. I don't regret spending time with you, sweetheart."

She smiled before rolling off of me. We both slid out from under the fighter. I gripped her hand tightly, pulling her behind several other fighters. I just wanted to hold her hand before I had to leave for Force knows how long.

It only took a minute to reach the landing platform. We stood within a shadow and no one could see us. I, however, saw Obi-Wan tapping his boots against the cement impatiently, waiting for me.

I kissed her lips passionately once more before stepping into the light of day towards my transport. "You're sure I can't come with you, Anakin?"

"Orders are orders, Snips," I said, smiling weakly at her. "I would love it if you came with me, but taking my Padawan hostage wouldn't look too good. I'll miss you and I love you. Take care of yourself and _behave._"

She smirked. "I'm more worried that you'll misbehave. You're always getting yourself into trouble. Just remember that I won't be there to watch your back."

I rolled my eyes. "Someone is always watching my back. I'll just assume that it's you and go on with my life."

"Be safe, Anakin."

I pulled her aside into another shadow. I kissed her slowly and passionately, holding her hand. "I'll be back before you have the chance to really miss me, Snips. Love you."

"Love you," she whispered in response, her eyes still closed from the kiss.

I stroked her cheek lovingly. She wrapped her arms around my waist tightly. I felt terrible – leaving her behind. It was something I rarely did because she was meant to stay by my side, but we've both grown very independent of each other, according to the Council. What they didn't know was how dependent we really were. I needed her and she needed me. I was just better at hiding my needs.

I ran my hand down her lek lightly, kissing her forehead. "I'll always love you, my little Padawan."

She chuckled, rubbing my back. "I'll always love you, too, Master."

I sighed, resting my chin in the dip between her montrals. I kissed the tip of her montral, hugging her tightly. "I should get going. The faster I leave, the faster I'll hopefully return. You can always contact me, Snips."

"You know I will," she sighed against my chest.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I smiled. "I'll contact you first though."

She pulled back to smile widely at me. "_I _wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be waiting for your transmission."

"It'll probably be in twenty minutes, so you'd better stay awake that long."

She rolled her eyes – mesmerizing me. "Oh, Snips, I'm really going to miss you."

"I'll miss you much more, Skyguy," she smirked. She smacked my chest playfully, stroking my cheek lightly. "I'll see you when you get back. I love you."

I quickly pecked her lips. "I love you, too."

She walked beside me until we got to the ship. "Take care, love," I whispered, kissing the tip of her montral as I passed her.

She giggled. "You're the one who's going to be blasted at for a while. _You _take care."

"I will," I winked. "See ya soon."

"See you, Ani," she whispered.

I held her chin for a moment, smiling at her. "I love you."

"I know you do," she giggled. "Get going. Master Kenobi is going to be upset with you if you're late. You're always late, but still…"

I shrugged. "It's in my nature to be late."

"True."

"Okay, my love. As much as I want to stay with you, I have to go."

"Bye, sweetheart," she whispered. Her sad smile made me melt. I made a kissing motion with my lips as I backed away from her.

It was hard to leave her behind after all we've been through. She'd just been crushed because of her mission and now I had to leave her here alone. I should stay and comfort her, but I can't go against the Council's orders just because I wanted to relax with her…

I passed Obi-Wan, hearing him mutter, "You're late, Anakin."

I groaned, not stopping to speak to him. I was upset because I had to leave Ahsoka behind. It was rare that we were ever separated and I always hated it.

I got onto the ship, holding the threshold. I smiled sadly at her, waving once. The ramp began to lift and her figure slowly vanished with it.

Once she was gone, I felt my heart break.


End file.
